Planoqraph co



R: C. TAFT.

CAR UNDERFHAME.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.25. 1918.

1,3 l l 1 92., Patented July 29, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co WASHINGTON, n. c.

R C. TAFT.

CAR UNDERFRAME.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.25. 191s.

1,31 1,192.- Patented July 29,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c6 WASHINGTON, D. c-

'RoBER'rcfTAFir, 0F MOL-INEVILLINOIIS.

cAR-UNDERFRAME.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jilly 29,

lipplieetioh fileiiiamiary 25, 1918. "Serial K012213579.

To all ivhom'z't ma comem Be it known that 1, ROBE T C. T'A'F'T, a citiz'en of the United States, residing "at Moline, State of "Illinois, have invented "new and useful improvements in on-Under'irames, of which the following is a full, clear, and ezmct description. i Myjnvention relates toiinprovements in the11nderfra'nies of cer's ftnjd particularly to the construction thereof ia'tfth-e intersections of the body-bolsters and drtlft members the'r'eof. l

"One of the most iiifpOftafrit'brthches of the meohainic'ztl workefa rztilroad is fthht, of

repairing fits freight cars. Amolig' other parts it very ,freql'iently becomes necessary to replace body-bolsters, and [as the latter are of many 'difi'erent designs (ind constructions varying greatly in Width-fits Well as in other respects, it is necessar to maintain the pivotal centers of the car nnderfrafnes,

"and not impair the strength and 'tbilitvof the connections of the bolster to transmit the heavy bufling' and pulling strains "to 'i vhic'h it is subject to the iinjderfralne, and to prevent the shearing of the bolts end rivets man-re shifting of the bolster and thus pntting it out of 'working orden When the necessity for reptiring' the' car arises it frequently happens I that new draft-arms must be used'and that these and other materiztls used for such re airs are not in the possession or the local repair shops jvvher'e the car beca'ine incapacitated and must be sent for and procured from disthnt sources otsu'pp'ly -ziiid thus keep the oil-r idle it a considerable loss to the railroad company.

The'objeet of my invention isto standardize th'e drift-arms, or draft elements of the underfrahie's of the cars and to use in cohliectioli therewith pacer; members of various dimensions and construction which vvill conipens'zite for the diiferences in the of the 01d and new bolsters; vyill avoid Weaknesses which would Cleve-lo from such substitution; Will hvoid the shearing of the bolts and rivets eiiiployed in making the connection, and 'will preventthe shifting of the bolsters. ,These 'sp'aci'rig members or shines are supplied in different sites to every repair shop on the railroad, and when at car becomes in'cepecitete'd an where. along said rohd, i newbolster can be iinm'edietely sub stitiited, Withbiltbrderirig and waiting for mztteriztls, in a eem amtively short tinie.

It is a further 6b] in the bounty of Rock Island and :ever possible,

the 'unde'rfrani bolster and draft elements.

'ect to utilize my improvements in connection with old cztrs and (to utilize the old draft el'elnents thereofwhen and "to prevent w akening of e at the intersection of the The precise eehstmctionn details which fconstitute "iny invention-ere hereinttjfter dethe accompanying *nd portio'n ofthe under'iriine of a railroad car includingthe intersection of the draftniembers and body-bolster showing my "finprovel'iients applied thereto.

" Qis a plan vie'vv of the said 'int'ersecting 'po'rtion, r v

Fig. 8 is a vertical central section of *a frajginent including the intersection of the draft-members and bolsters showing a modified "construction of my invention.

' Figs; 4 and '5 are similar vi'eivs showing yetother modifications.

Referring to the construction of the car und rfmnm shoivn in Figs. 1 end 2 of the :drtwvings, A',A, represent the draft-members or draft-arms or draft-si1ls;'B the fiooring, and C, C, the compression {ineifnber a'ndt'he tension-member, respectively, of a body-bolster. The rear ends of the draftsills pass between the said compression and tension members, and the n pper edges of said dr'tft-s'ill's', Where they intersect the transverse vertical plane or said bolster, are built up, as at a, a, and this built up upper edge-pf each sill is, preferably, gained into the nnder surface of the flooring and is provided a recessed seat (Z, which latter is of it length slightly greater thtnthe ividth of the tension lnernber of the (bolster, and is of a depth slightly greater than the thickness of the same; Interposed between the edges of seat d and tension ineinber G of the bolster is ashiin D 'v'vhich cohsists of a plate of metal or othersuitzible material of a length corresponding to the length of seat (Z' into which it is fitted, and of a thickness correspondin to'the space between the said tension niem er and the horizohtzil edge thereof. v The ends {2, 6, of this shim are thickened tnd offset upward to provide spacing eleliients zind to fill in between the end edges of said seat and the side edges of the tension inember. A A y The lower edges of the drft-Sills tire also cutaway to enable thein to pa e between the with suitable rearward extensions H which may be fastened in any manner to wooden or metal centersills extending from bolster to'bolster. The bolster, the draft-sills and the center-sills may be constructed in any desired manner so long as shims D and F are employed in the manner hereinbefore described to supply the discrepancy in the relative proportions of the bolsters and their seats in the draft-sills, and to prevent the consequent loosening of the'car structure in the intersection of the bolster and the draft-sills. If it should ever become necessary to replace the old with new bolsters, it is a compartively easy matter to remove the old shims and substitute shims thatwould fill the space between the compression and ten ion members of the bolster and the draft-sills.

In Fig. 3, I show a modified construction of my invention which consists in making seat (5 of'the same length as the width of the compression and tension members 7, 7, of thebolster, and inter-posing shims 8, 8, between the same and the horizontal edges of said seats that correspond, in length to the length of the seat and do not have their ends offset or flanged upward or down ward to provide filling members.

In Fig. 1, I show yet another modifica' tion of my invention which is designed to be used in conjunction with the underframe of a car in which a cast metal bolster 9. has been substituted. The seat 11 in the lower edges of the draftsills 10 of this modification are considerably longer than the width of the bolster, and the sides of the edges of said seat are flanged laterally. In this 1 type of underframes the draft-sills pass over the bolster, and the shim 12 used in conjunction therewith is of a length correspending to the length of said seat and has its rear portion made tliickerand stepped downward to form an interposed spacing member 13 that fills in the space between the rear edge of the bolster and the rear edge of the recessed seat. The depth of draft-sills in front of the bolster is greater than at the rear thereof, and at the lower angle of the forward edge of the seat the draftsills are provided with integral rearwardly forward end of the recessed seat. The rear portions of the upper. and lower edges of stop-block 15 are rabbeted to form seats for the upper and lower flanges of thebolster, and at the center of height of the rear edge thereof that bears against the vertical web of the bolster, said stop-block is provided with laterally projecting lugs 16 through which horizontal bolts 17 are tapped that secure said block to said bolster.

In Fig. 5 I show yet another modification of my invention. This modification is built along the lines of the modification shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, excepting that the shim 18 has its forward and rear ends thickened and offset downwardly to provide the integral spacing members 19, which, when said shims are properly assembled, are interposedbetween the forward and rear edges of the tension member of the bolster and the front and rear vertical edges of the recessed seat. This modification does not employ a stop-block between the forward side of the bolster and the forward end of the recessed seat. To compensate for this omission, however, the lower angle of the forward edge of said recessed seat is provided with an integral rearwardly projecting lug 20 that is in the same horizontal plane as the forward flange of the compression member of the-bolster against which it bears. This lug 20 and the said forwardly projectingfiange of the compression member of the bolster are sandwiched. between two tie-plates 21, 22, respectively, by means of a rivet 28 passing through the rear ends of the tie-plates and said flange, and by means of a vertical bolt 21 extending through the draft-sills, the shim, said plates and lug 20. A tie-plate 25 is secured to theunder side of spacing-member 19 at the forward end of the shim, and the forwardly projecting flange 0f the tension member of the bolster is sandwiched between the rear portion of this plate 25 and the shim by means of a vertical bolt 26 that passes through the portion of the draft-sills 10 above the recessed seat, the flanges of said seat, the shim, said forward flange of said tension member and said plate, substantially as shown in said Fig. 5. Rivets 28 and bolts 26 and 27 are adapted to be seated in holes in the draft-sills and bolster that existed before the substitution of the shim, and thus avoid the making of additional holes in these members and the consequent. weakening thereof. Bolts 27 correspond to; bolts 26 and are employed to secure the draft-sills face, or 'on both upper and lower surfaces.

Said shims may have one or both ends offset to provide the spacing elements that are interposed between the front and rear edges of the flanges of the compression and tension members of the bolster and the front end of the seat in the draft-sills, or may be constructed without these elements, and said shims may be seated in recessed seats in the upper and lower edges of draft-sills that pass between the compression and tension members of the bolster, or in the recessed edges of draft-sills that are extended over said bolster, and, finally, said shims may be used either with or without stop-blocks, although it is apparently desirable to em ploy said block or the equivalent thereof where the draft-sills extend entirely over the bolster. My invention contemplates the use of any of these changes in the construction. and uses of the shims.

What I claim as new is:

1. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members and shims each consisting of a plate interposed. between the horizontal contacting surfaces of said bolster and draft-members.

2. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members, and shims each consisting of a plate interposed between the horizontal contacting surfaces of said bolster and draft-members and having one end thickened and offset and provided with a shoulder on one horizontal side that engages the adjacent edge of the bolster.

3. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members, and shims each consisting of a plate interposed between the horizontal contacting surfaces of said bolster and draft-members, both end'portions of which are offset toward the same side and provided with shoulders that engage the front and rear edges of said bolster.

4. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members and shims each consisting of a plate interposed between the horizontal contacting surfaces of said bolster and draft-members and having one of its ends thickened toward one side and provided with a shoulder that engages the adjacent edge of the bolster.

5. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members each having a recessed seat in an. edge thereof the length of which is not less than the width of the contacting surface of the body-bolster, and shims each consisting of a plate occupying said seat and interposed between the opposing horizontal surfaces o-f said draft-members and bolster.

6. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members each having a recessed seat in an edge thereof the length of which is greater than the width of the opposing surface of the body-bolster, shims each consisting of plate occupying said seat and interposed between the opposing horizontal surfaces of said draft-members and bolster, and a spacing member between "one side of said bolster and the adjacent end of said seat.

7. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members each having a recessed seat in an edge thereof the length of which is greater than the width of the opposing surface of the body-bolster, shims each consisting of a plate occupying said seat and interposed between the opposing horizontal surfaces of said draft-members and bolster, and spacing members integral with said shims placed between said bolster and one of the ends of said seat.

8. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members each having a recessed seat in an edge thereof the length of which is greater than the width of the bolster where it crosses the same, and shims each consisting of a plate occupying said seat and having one end thereof extending beyond the side of the bolster thickened and offset to provide a spacing element between said bolster and the adjacent end of said seat.

9. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members each having a recessed seat in an edge thereof the length of which is greater than the width of the bolster where it crosses the same, and shims each consisting of a plate occupying said seat and'having its ends thickened and offset to provide spacing elements between said bolster and the ends of said seat.

10. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster, draft-members having recessed seats in their lower edges where they arch over said bolster whi ch are greater in length than the width of the bolster, and shims each consisting of plates interposed between said bolster and the ends of said seats.

11. An underframe for cars comprising a body-bolster having a compression and a tension member, draft-members that pass between the compression and tension members of said bolster and having the upper and lower edges where they pass the same provided with recessed seats, and shims each consisting of plates interposed between the horizontal surfaces of said seats and said compression and tension members.

.10 and the opposing horizontal surfaces and side edges of said compression and tension members. 7

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hang and seal this 14th day of December, 191

ROBERT C. TAFT.

Witnesses:

CARL ANDERSON, E. L. ZINK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. i 

